Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 5.5% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 28.1% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 27.0% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 7.1% less in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 85.3% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.3% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 5.0% less in Playa del Carmen

The cost of restaurants, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Playa del Carmen are more expensive than in Shanghai. Expenses including childcare, housing, and clothing are lower in Playa del Carmen. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Playa del Carmen.

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Playa del Carmen vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Playa del Carmen instead of Shanghai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$11.13 MX$205.76	+148.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$11.94 MX$220.72	+128.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.34 MX$24.83	+124.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$0.82 MX$15.25	+123.0%
Average			+136.4%

Shanghai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.1% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$2.30 MX$42.51	+16.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$3.80 MX$70.30	-55.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$5.64 MX$104.29	-18.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$2.53 MX$46.87	+49.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$3.67 MX$67.89	+148.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$1.31 MX$24.17	+31.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$0.66 MX$12.13	-14.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$1.20 MX$22.24	+33.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$0.97 MX$17.89	+25.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.91 MX$16.82	+154.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.89 MX$16.46	+105.5%
Average			+28.1%

Shanghai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.0% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$5.72 MX$105.85	+15.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$27.82 MX$514.40	-6.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$21,528.95 MX$398K	+11.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$32.66 MX$604.00	+476.3%
Average			+27.0%

Shanghai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.1% less for housing

	Shanghai	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$29.02 MX$536.69	+175.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	-3.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	-34.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	+48.7%
Average			-7.1%

Shanghai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 85.3% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	-85.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	-85.5%
Average			-85.3%

Shanghai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$3.17 MX$58.59	+165.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$3.84 MX$71.02	+14.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$4.45 MX$82.30	+19.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	-2.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$5.00 MX$92.42	-44.2%
Average			+9.3%

Shanghai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.0% less for clothing

	Shanghai	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$44.85 MX$829.44	-17.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$42.62 MX$788.17	+14.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	+0.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	-14.8%
Average			-5.0%

Shanghai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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